Cookie Monster

Sesame Street’s Cookie Monster has nothing on my dad. The older he gets – the more cookies he wants. To me, it is out of control. I don’t endorse this at all. My sister, Sloane, does not have an issue with it and that is where the problem begins for me. My niece, Raina, is an amazing baker. Although she loves to bake, she doesn’t necessarily want to eat all she makes. That is where my dad comes in, he happily devours all her creations, especially the cookies. He fully supports her baking hobby, supplying her with butter, sugar, flour and the like to her heart’s content. Or so he claims, I know that it is actually to his heart’s content. In turn, Sloane brings Raina’s creations to Dad on a regular basis. Plus my kids give him a cookie subscription every Christmas, so he receives more cookies in the mail every other month.

Even during this current crisis of sheltering in place, my dad NEEDS his cookies. He’d run out of Raina’s cookies (because he goes through them like the general public seems to be going through toilet paper and bottled water) and he doesn’t have an order coming this month in the mail. You think the global pandemic is a crisis? No, this is the true crisis! He didn’t hesitate to ask me to run to the store to get him cookies! What? Really? Talk about an addiction. Putting your daughter’s health at risk so that you can munch away.

No, I didn’t do as he requested, instead I rummaged through my pantry, found a can of pumpkin puree and baked him up a batch of pumpkin-oatmeal cookies, even though I do not at all enjoy baking. When I delivered the cookies, along with other food I’d made for him, he informed me that he was allergic to oatmeal. Why have I never known this? I suppose because I don’t like cooked oatmeal, so the subject hadn’t come up before. He said he breaks out in hives if he has “too much” oatmeal, but that the amount in each cookie “should be okay”. Yup, he is such a cookie monster that he is willing to break out in hives to have his beloved cookies.

I’m sorry, I don’t have many photos of the process since, quite honestly, I was irritated while I was making these and hadn’t planned on blogging the recipe. It didn’t cross my mind until I had everything in the mixer. But I’m sure you’ve made cookies before, so a bunch of photos isn’t really necessary.

Pumpkin-Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 2 ½ cups flour
• 1 ½ cups oatmeal (not instant)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/3 cups packed brown sugar
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 ¼ cups canned pumpkin puree
• 1 ¾ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with Silpat mat or parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, oats, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger for 30 seconds, and set aside.

In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until creamy.

Add in egg then mix in vanilla extract and pumpkin puree. With the mixer set on low speed, slowly add in dry ingredients and mix until combined. Mix in chocolate chips. Let the batter rest for 10 minutes, giving the oats some time to absorb the liquids so cookies don’t spread too much.

Scoop dough using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, filling it about three-quarters of the way, and spoon onto prepared baking sheets, spacing cookies 2-inches apart.

Bake in preheated oven for 12 to 14 minutes. Allow to cool on the baking sheets for 3 to 4 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 22 to 24 cookies